SWEET SORROWS│p. jackson

[ 07. ]

II vii. the witch's lover... II

"HEY, LOOK at this Rom!" Leo called.

Andromeda looked over her shoulder as Leo pressed a bloodied shield to his chest and smoldered. She snorted, before turning back. "You wish you looked cool in battle armor, dragon boy. Only natural warriors can pull that look off."

Leo rolled his eyes, before letting fall to the ground and rushing towards something else. Scanning over the sets of skateboards she'd been studying earlier, she tried to pick out which one Percy would like. ( He was definitely more of a green guy, right? Or was it blue.)

Then, her eye caught something beside it. She gasped, immediately grabbing the white and orange striped fish plushie. Of course he would love it, he was a son of the sea. Quickly pulling off her bag, she shoved the small plushie in and shut it. Thankfully, Medea seemed more invested in her chat with Piper.

"Andie!" She turned once more to see Jason and Alabaster both running towards her, each holding a separate outfit. "Andie," Alabaster huffed. "Be honest, who's is better."

She tapped her chin with her finger. "Hm...I think i'm gonna go with──"

"Your highness," Piper called (rather loudly, in Andromeda's opinion). "Why don't you tell the group how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

They all turned away from what they were studying, suddenly becoming interested in the random topic Piper had brought up.

"More story?" Leo asked.

"I like more story!" Jason agreed, a dopey smile on his face.

The princess flashed Piper an irritated look. "Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Aphrodite had me under a spell. If it wasn't for her-but I can't hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?"

The way she said it made Andromeda frown. Her gut feeling was definitely strong right now, but she couldn't seem to pin what was happening. All she could focus on was the princess's sweet words.

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," Piper said. "didn't he, Your Highness? He married you just as he promised."

"At first," Her Highness admitted, "it seemed he would keep his word. But even after I helped him steal my father's treasure, he still needed my help. As we fled, my brother's fleet came after us. His warships overtook us. He would have destroyed us, but I convinced my brother to come aboard our ship first and talk under a flag of truce. He trusted me."

"And you killed your own brother," Piper said.

Andromeda blinked, staring back and forth towards the two.

"What?" Jason stirred. "Killed your own-"

"No," the princess snapped. "Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn't have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end."

Jason still looked uncomfortable. "What did he do?"

"Don't you know the story, my boy?" She smirked wickedly. "You of all people should. You were named for him."